Power In Patricia Mccormick's 'Never Fall Down'
Lord Acton, an English historian, once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Power brings out the worst in people. There have been several instances in the past where power was misused and lead to horrible periods in history. When given power, people may misuse it “because they can.” Their followers feel that it must be okay because someone at such a high status is doing it, even though it is not. In the dystopian novel, Never Fall Down, a group by the name of the Khmer Rouge invades Cambodia and takes all of their people. They have all of the power at the time, and force the people to work against their will. This turned out to be one of most devastating periods in history. Others may claim that power brings
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They may claim that people can do great things with power, and use it to change things for the better based on their opinions. They are wrong, and this is never the case. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick demonstrates how one group of people can make a negative impact on the world if given too much power.
The book Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick tells the story of a boy named Arn during the Cambodian Genocide. This was a period in history when a group called the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia and its people. In just four years, over 1.7 million of Cambodia’s people were executed, starved, or overworked to death. The sleeping conditions were inhumane, and anyone was lucky if they were allowed three hours of sleep. For most, the rest of the day consisted of forced labor out in the fields or disposing of dead bodies. They were fed the bare minimum, and lived off of grains of rice. Relationships were discouraged and families were split apart, and even young children had to suffer on their own. This made for one of the worst mass killings in the 20th Century. A BBC News article, “Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge Regime”, states, “Declaring the nation would start again at ‘Year Zero’, Pol Pot isolated his people from the rest of the world and set about emptying the cities, abolishing money, private property and
They may claim that people can do great things with power, and use it to change things for the better based on their opinions. They are wrong, and this is never the case. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick demonstrates how one group of people can make a negative impact on the world if given too much power.
The book Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick tells the story of a boy named Arn during the Cambodian Genocide. This was a period in history when a group called the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia and its people. In just four years, over 1.7 million of Cambodia’s people were executed, starved, or overworked to death. The sleeping conditions were inhumane, and anyone was lucky if they were allowed three hours of sleep. For most, the rest of the day consisted of forced labor out in the fields or disposing of dead bodies. They were fed the bare minimum, and lived off of grains of rice. Relationships were discouraged and families were split apart, and even young children had to suffer on their own. This made for one of the worst mass killings in the 20th Century. A BBC News article, “Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge Regime”, states, “Declaring the nation would start again at ‘Year Zero’, Pol Pot isolated his people from the rest of the world and set about emptying the cities, abolishing money, private property and